Snowe Rejects Reid Public Option Plan

WASHINGTON – Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe says she would vote with fellow Republicans to block the Democratic health care overhaul if changes are not made to the version Majority Leader Harry Reid outlined this week.

The Democrats will need 60 votes to get the bill past a threatened Republican filibuster, so Snowe's vote would be crucial if Reid loses any of the chamber's 58 Democrats and two independents.

Snowe is the only Republican in Congress who has voted for any of the early Democratic versions in either the Senate or House.

Reid says he has blended two versions in a measure that includes a government-run "public option" to compete with private health insurance plans. States could opt out of the government insurance, but Snowe said Tuesday that's not good enough.